This teacher applied for a job, but was stunned by the hoops and hurdles required to get it.
Your education doesn’t count, they said, only your value-added scores. If you want a higher salary, get the test scores higher.
No gym. No custodian, you will scrub toilets.
And, oh yes, once you agree to all these conditions, please write a little essay about the word “feisty.”
This teacher needs a job. What did the teacher do?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on Kmareka.com and commented:
One veteran teacher’s experience with considering a job at a charter school.
The sad truth is that this teacher with the PHD might have a hard time being hired in a traditional public school which has had its funding slashed. They are much more likely to hire the cheaper new college graduate without the advanced degree. Even an experienced teacher with years of teaching who moves to a different school district, loses seniority and tenure. That teacher is probably too expensive to be hired at a new school district. It’s a regular conundrum, advanced degrees and experience can actually put you at a distinct disadvantage of getting employed at a charter school and even a real public school.
My degrees and experience have been ridiculed and marginalized thru out my career. I never understood the deep rancor Americans blatantly demonstrate toward those who are educated, but found it even more tragic when school administrators, department chairs and even a lead teacher in a junior college have ignored me and when that didn’t shut me up, they just called me crazy. Really.
Was there a golden age of teaching? I seem to remember a time when teachers were respected, but maybe I am dreaming.
I recently earned a PhD. It took earning one to realize that I would never be able to use it. Fortunately, I was able to pay for it as I earned it. I cannot imagine anyone earning an advanced degree of any kind (JD, MD,EdD) and thinking that they were going to be able to use it to pay back any loans. The only initials “deformers” are looking for after your name is TFA or TNTP.
Experience need not apply.
My PhD. Is only useful in post secondary education.
I guess I’ve learned in life that not everyone values what I value, and that doesn’t bother me because I can always find people who do. I’m earning my advanced degree for me and the students and teachers I serve. I know my learning is making a difference there. If someone would choose not to recognize it I’m fine with that. Not everyone ridicules degrees, just doesn’t put as much stock in them.
Advanced degrees are about personal and life-long learning right?
They had better be. They certainly aren’t going to help you get a teaching job. There are plenty of non-credit courses, and they don’t cost as much either.